Mountains in white – salzburg.ORF.at
The situation is currently not as extreme as in January 2019.
The snow-drifting crowns that were noticeable three years ago in the record winter, arctic cold works of art of nature, white hoods and dwarf hats on rock towers in the giant walls are now beautiful to see again – preferably in the east and south-east facing flanks. Here they came to lie in the slipstream of the northwest storm of the past few days, were transported from the windward side of the mountains over peaks, ridges and ridges.
For comparison, reading and review of the record January 2019 ours at that time Photo feature in ORF.at
Watzmann: record wall in the Eastern Alps
SHE is actually the east face of the Watzmann-Südspitze, also known as the Bartholomäwand – one of the most famous rock faces in the world and, with a wall height of approx. 1,800 meters, the highest in the Eastern Alps. In the northern part of the massif, the east walls of the Watzmann near Mitterspitz and Hocheck are much lower, because underneath there are also deeply snow-covered Watzmannkar – framed by the bizarrely sugared Watzmann children, huge rock towers.
If you get there too early, you could be slain
In winter or spring, when the rocks on the east face under the southern tip are covered with ice or snow and there is a risk of avalanches, the Watzmann east face (as well as the Watzmann crossing) is only reserved for professionals and area experts. Especially at the time of the snowmelt in the months of May and June, there are always fatalities because tons of old snow and ice slide off the downwardly layered strips and kill mountaineers. Only when these masses have slipped or melted do the Berchtesgaden mountain guides begin with guided tours through the wall.
Birnhorn southeast face was once important for beer drinkers
With a wall height of almost 1,500 meters, it is the second highest rock face in the Eastern Alps, after the one on the nearby Watzmann. It consists of dolomite limestone and was climbed for the first time on October 1, 1900 – by Josef Oberlader and Karl Mayrhofer, both of whom come from Mitterpinzgau.
At 2,634 meters, the Birnhorn is the highest point in the Leoganger Steinberge. The huge massif belongs to the municipal areas of Leogang and Weißbach bei Lofer (both Pinzgau).
The southeast face falls in the direction of Leogang and Saalfelden. The karst spring of the “Birnbachloch” is located at its foot, around 1,270 meters above sea level.
Beer drinkers in Munich and other parts of Bavaria and Franconia also owed their culinary delights to this Salzburg mountain more than 120 years ago. From here, tons of the avalanche snow, which was transformed into ice by nature, was taken by train to Germany. To the big breweries for cellar cooling in summer. More on this in our report from spring 2021
The photos of the Watzmann east face were taken with a powerful telephoto on a private flight – outside the national park, a little across from Berchtesgaden near Hohen Göll.